I prefer the option of giving them wholesome treats, and letting them know that pretty much anything at McDonald's is on the same level as eating out of the trashcan. Find any type of cheat as a substitute for that.

We hardly ever go to McDonalds, so to my kids see it is a treat, there's not much we can do about that. Anything they like (or like the free toys with anyway) that is rationed becomes a treat by its very nature.

They know its crap, but they don't care, and neither do I as they eat well the rest of the time. I wasn't allowed McDonalds as a child and then went crazy for fast food as a teenager when I had my own money, I'm really careful about what I forbid, if they are anything like me they'll hold those items in the highest esteem!

I get a special treat at McDonalds. A free trip to the bathroom and a cup of coffee.

I grew up with the concept of fast food being special, treated myself often as I got older, and got fat. The concept of do-it-yourself returns food prep to where it belongs. The results taste better and take longer, and that's the whole paleo point. Grok didn't have a drive thru.

Denying something that a kid wants to try can cause them to grow up and eat lots of trash. My parents were super zealous about only eating healthy food, we lived on a farm, grew most of our food and raised most of our meat, but we had friends who could eat whatever they wanted, and when we went to their houses, we got to have kudos bars, and other junk. Later in life, when we left the nest and went to college and so forth, all 4 of us had overeating problems. I am the only one who has overcome this, and it is not always easy. I have a sister and a brother who live on junk food, and who, after discussing in depth, acknowledge that it comes from it being so forbidden to us as kids. My younger sister is better at battling it than the other two, and she also acknowledges it as being a problem. I think you have to be pretty delicate with a kid's psyche. I think if they don't visit friends who eat junk, or see the parents eating junk, or see commercials for the junk, then it is probably easier to avoid this problem, but being a child of the 80s/early 90s, even without cable on our farm, I was still inundated with the knowledge that these "delicious" treats were out there.

So I don't really know the answer, or what I will do with my children when we have them someday. Advertising is everywhere and it only gets worse. Our goal is to homeschool, but that doesn't mean they will be holed up and not exposed to this food. I would love to think that they would grow to have no taste for it, but denying food can cause major issues that can lead to finding the food as soon as one is able, hoarding it at time (with my older sister) and secret eating. I don't know if it is better to just provide them with all of the best foods possible, but let them have cake at a friend's birthday party, and hope they don't like it, or how to teach balance. I don't think it is so black and white.

I never had McDonalds until I was in High School and could drive and buy it myself. Don't get me wrong, Crisco and margarine, Fritos, Oreos, ice cream, Baby Ruth bars, bread, peanut butter, pasta and 2% milk (delivered) were staples at our house. And we did have fast food now and then, but only from the local establishments (Haloburgers, Angelo's Coney Island, 5th Avenue Fish and Chips). We also ate in restaurants more than most people. I think my dad just thought McDonalds was kind of low class.

My whole family (2 parents/6 kids) are/were obese. McDonalds is not THE problem. It is simply part of our culture of junk, which is the problem.

Virtually always a mistake, imo and experience, for a parent to dictate what a teenager (or tween) buy with their own money. McDonalds is crap and just as toxic are things like Body Shop products and cosmetics etc.

When you educate kids about food and toxins and being healthy as you raise them, they don't want crap. Or they try it with their friends and get a tummy ache and never eat it again.
McDonald's once in a while is NOT going to kill an otherwise healthy teen.
Let them make their own choices with their own money.

If they don't know by 16 that McDonald's is crap then there were 16 years of missed teaching moments. I noticed with my own three that their friends loved coming to our house because we always had fresh fruit and vegetables and cheese readily available. And I always had a bunch of health journals out on the table and it surprised even me how interested they were!

Anyway, the take away here is if you try to dictate what a teen eats or spends their own money on, you are asking for trouble.

I've got three small kids. From my perspective, it's my job to prep them for the real world. With that in mind, I've introduced my kids to fast food in the vein of #3. We play a game where we look for healthy "growing food" options. If options are limited, we talk about what few options are available that might come close to our Paleo/primal lifestyle.

There can be a difference between treat and a sometimes thing. I don't take my kid to McDonald's or similar restaurants, but if my bf or someone else does, I'm okay with it. Yes, the food is crap, but even kids have to have the right to some choice. Forbidding something for a kid sets it up as a way to be rebellious when they're older, so I try not to forbid, rather, I try to set a good example and educate her. The idea is to have her learn to make responsible choices.

I have had this argument with a co-worker who gives her twin 6 year old mcdonalds once a month, personally, I believe it should NEVER ever be eaten by anyone ever. It isnt even close to food, and rewarding your kids with high value food treats like that sets them up for eating disorders later in life. Get them a toy instead. Unfortunately McDonalds advertising leads people to beleive that they are as american as baseball and paleo apple pie, and that food is an important part of family values, and if you are too busy to cook for them every night, well McDonald's is there and it means you love your kids!!! It is so wrong. Personally I feel that not ever having a happy meal is best because they cannot cry for something that they do not know about.

I only go to McDonalds for the bathrooms. If there's no line for ordering stuff, i'll pick up a coffee.

I haven't eaten their food for about twenty years. I used to do some of the breakfast sandwiches back in the day. I actually liked those well enough. But the burgers? Not a THING like how Mom used to make them! And those chickenoid things????

Advertising has taken on a whole new role in society today -- so I figure if any kid of mine is old enough to drive him/herself to the place and use his/her own money, fine -- teens do need choice. But as long as I am driving, NIX to the fast food places. Raising children with a variety of real foods cooked at home will largely result in children who grow up to appreciate the taste and quality of real foods.

Once, about 20 years ago, friends and I met at a McDonalds just simply because it was at a convenient location. I was clear about the fact that I found all their food inedible and that we should find something else once we met. They agreed. But when we all got there, they ate. I just watched them over a coffee.

Sorry, if I am going to eat something bad for me, it at least has to have the decency to TASTE somewhat edible. (And I wasn't even Paleo then!) McDonalds as a treat? No, a punishment!

Not a Treat- Mcdonald....even their fruit has stuff added to it.

Treat - Fresh berries, whole cream whipped. Now THAT is a treat.

You are what you eat....

When I was growing up we ate home cooked meals most nights for the week. Every once in a while my dad would take us to Mcdonalds for a happy meal. I was more excited about the toy then the actual food. Every time I ate it I would feel sick after. My little tummy was not used to all the processed food. As an adult I refuse to EVER eat there. I associate being sick with the restaurant chain. Many of my friends ate there frequently and they never felt sick. This is because their little tummies adjusted to eating that crap.

Now I have 2 small kids, on long road trips my husband sometimes stops for In and Out or Deltaco, but never Mcdonalds. He grew up eating fast food all the time and tons of sodas. He has cut back a ton on the fast food, but still eats it every once in a while.

Conclusion: How ever you feed your children growing up is pretty much how they will eat as adults.

My youngest is now trained to ask, "Does it have wheat in it?" The biggest draw was always the trinkets that came in the meals. Shitty little things that I would throw away as soon as he wasn't looking, usually after finding them with the bottom of my foot in the middle of the night. I took him to Party City and showed him that we could buy the same trinkets for mere pennies and it satisfied his "need" for the toys.

We grabbed Carl's Jr on the way home the other night. Not the greatest in the world, but we ordered the chicken sandwiches wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. Hubby enjoyed sweet potato fries and little one had a few regular fries.

My oldest never had much in the way of fast food as a young one, so it was definitely the rare treat. My youngest, however, got the tired, exhausted parents that bought fast food every other day or so and it became "normal." It is definitely a hard habit to break, but so worth breaking!!!

I know a couple that makes their kids believe that going to a dentist is a treat. They BEG their parents to go to a dentist. The first time I witnessed kids begging their parents to take them to a dentist I thought I was going nuts.

As for going to McDonald's - they explain to their kids that if you eat at McDonald's you are going to get a stomach ache and get very sick and then go to a hospital. So they never take their kids there.

They make simple activities fun as a treat. For example, they really enjoy contests with silly prizes - it is so much fun to watch them do it! Or they have family fun times - like trying to guess a riddle or kids making up a puppet show.

For Christmas and birthdays they give each other books.

They do not have a TV or a DVD and make toys together out of natural materials (pinecones, straw, etc.)

Oh, and their kids believe that dried fruit is candy. They were asking parents for candies and got prunes! I was like - it's a prune! The parents were - that's what we call candies in our family.

Not sure what to think.

You know what is a treat? To have a kitchen, a stove, an oven, plates, cutlery AND fresh meat/veggies/fruit. Thats the treat and the standard. Everything else is junk, which is ok, on occasion.

McDonald's has its place. It is dependable (the food turns out exactly how you expect it to most of the time) and quick (they have locations in very convenient places both on and off your usual route). Because of this, if you're in a strange place, you can often pop into McDonalds and know that you can get an Angus burger, skip on the bun, and have a relatively good lunch. It's often the best option if you don't have the time to research a place to eat.

I eat at McDonald's and other fast food places primarily when traveling (airports and long car rides). It's a treat in that I'm saving myself the time it would take to prepare my own food for the trip. It's not as healthy, but it's very convenient.

I grew up thinking that any fast food was a treat. I think it was the deliciously greasy and salty food that was for some reason appealing. These days, I cannot stand to even consider going to a place such as McDonald's. If I don't have a choice, I'll stick to a salad.

Someone should start a paleo restaurant chain... I know there are a few restaurants that are paleo-friendly, but I would love to see something strictly paleo.

Not to belabor the point, but I looked up the ingredients list for the McDonald's Grilled Chicken Breast (you'd think just chicken right?) Here it is:

Chicken breast fillet with rib meat, water, seasoning (rice starch, salt, sugar, yeast extract, canola oil, onion powder, maltodextrin, chicken skin, paprika, flavor, sunflower oil, chicken, garlic powder, chicken fat, spices), sodium phosphates.

http://nutrition.mcdonalds.com/getnutrition/ingredientslist.pdf

Seriously? They have to flavor their chicken breast with "Chicken" and "Flavor"?
What kind of season is rice starch? maltodextrin? yeast extract?

Their Milkshake has 4 ingredients. Their chicken fillet has 18!

IMO, McDonalrds is out.

If I'm going to have a "treat" it's going to still be primal. Think cheesecake, ice cream, cookies, etc.

McDonalds grosses me out.